A NEW memorial stone dedicated to the victims of the 1860 Black Vein mining disaster has been unveiled in Risca.

The stone marks the culmination of an £11,500 renovation of the Greenmeadow Burial Ground, where 12 of the victims of the disaster were buried.

The Black Vein Miners Memorial Society raised the funds to renovate and maintain the site, after it fell in to disrepair.

The money was used to replace the rotten fence, and to pay for a new memorial stone, as the previous one was incorrect.

The previous stone, erected in 1993, stated that 50 victims were buried there, which is now known to be incorrect.

Current research has shown that only 12 victims were buried there, in December 1860.

A year later, the 11-month-old son of one of the victims was buried there with his father. More than 140 men and boys died in total.

One victim of an 1880 disaster was also buried there.

The new memorial stone was blessed in a ceremony led by Reverend Martin Evans of St Mary’s Church in Risca. The deputy mayor of Caerphilly County Borough Council, Cllr Julian Simmonds, joined the society at the ceremony.

Stephen Lyons, administrator of the Black Vein Miners Memorial Society, said: “It was very moving. It’s always moving to pay tribute to these men and boys.

“It really is the culmination of the work we have done as a society. It’s been hard work to raise the money needed

“We want it to be a place that the community can be proud of.

“When my wife and I first saw the burial ground in November 2016, my first reaction was that this needed some money spent on it.

“I looked at the fence and quite a lot of the rails had rotted through. The grass was growing high there were nettles everywhere. It was not in a good way.”

Martin Damsell, whose grandfather made the original stone, was approached to make the new one, and he also attended the ceremony.

Tomorrow, the society will be holding a memorial service for the victims of the 1860 disaster on its 158th anniversary. It takes place at 9.30am at St Mary’s Church.